Sweet William Ghost
by Rhoswen19
Summary: Dean is keeping a secret, Sam it's pushing him into telling and a hunt seems to be the perfect solution to avoid conversation. Too bad the solution turns out to be more of a problem when the spirit chooses Dean to be its latest victim.


_**Disclaimer:**_ Don't own anything.

_**Author's Notes:**_Special thanks to Cally who took the time to proof read it. You're the greatest!!! And Candy who encouraged me to post it!! I hope everyone enjoys it and if it's not much to ask please review, it would make me very happy 

**Sweet William Ghost**

By

Laz

The room wasn't as crappy as the one before. They had been driving for a while and seriously needed to pull over for the night. It had been three days on the road only stopping in gas stations or at drive-ins. There had been some tension between them so Dean decided to stop in the next town for a couple of days; hopefully like in any other small town they would find something to hunt. They got a room with double beds; it was also decorated very cheaply. Sam went straight to bed while Dean flipped the channels of the mute TV not really looking for anything in particular. Around 2 AM he turned it off but didn't fall asleep. An hour later Sam woke up to take a leak and Dean pretended to sleep.

"I know you're not sleepin," Sam informed his brother when he settled back into bed.

"So?"

"Nothing just wanted to let you know you don't fool me."

"Night Sammy."

The middle of the night chat was over leaving each brother to wonder in their own thoughts. Dean tried easing his mind as much as he could. He couldn't keep losing sleep over that little detail that apparently wasn't so little. Doing so would only make him tired and he couldn't protect Sam if he wasn't in good condition. When the morning light was peeking he felt his body grow heavy. He hoped for a little Jessica Biel action in his dreams.

Then he opened his eyes to see the clarity of day and his watch saying he had slept for five hours even though it felt like he had just closed his eyes. Dean got up to his morning routine and then took the laptop to keep busy until Sam decided to wake up. Then he grabbed some bagels and coffee for breakfast. Boy, he was bored out of his mind. Now he knew why he never took a break from hunting he didn't know what else to do. Earning some hard cash was his other hobby but it was too early for that, plus they still had money. After what seemed years to him Sam began to stir.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty"

"Since when are you up before me?"

"Since today I guess…"

"What time is it?"

"One in the afternoon."

"Why did you let me sleep so long?"

"Because I'm an awesome brother and we got here pretty late last night."

"Where's 'here' anyways?"

"Butte, Montana."

"You still haven't told me what happened to you in that hunt."

"Hey, did you know that Evel Knievel was from this town?"

"Dean?"

"Nothing happened, get dressed I'm starving."

"When aren't you?" he mumbled under his breath as he got out of bed.

Sam grabbed a couple of his toiletries and the first clean shirt and pair of jeans he found in his duffle bag before heading to the bathroom. He learned the hard way not to leave his clothes in the bed while taking a shower because his brother's odd sense of humor usually meant torturing him. The warm water was doing wonders to his slightly sore muscles. The bruises were fading like they always did but the memory of the look on Dean's face after he came to save his butt…yet again, hadn't vanished from his head. He looked scared but not like in the plane job, more like sort of confused. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Something happened to him while they got separated and whatever it was Dean was shutting him out like he usually did with the important stuff.

As he got dressed Sam kept on wondering what was going on with Dean. He noticed how he went from cheerful to pissed off in a record time. As far as he could remember nothing unusual happened. They were hunting a Ghoul in a graveyard; yeah sure that scary little thing smacked them around a bit but that always happens. He'll be damned if he could walk out of a hunt without expecting a bruise the next day. Sooner or later he would find out what Dean was keeping from him, it was just bound to happen.

"What's taking you so long, dude?"

"I'm done. Man, your stomach, it's not going to eat itself."

"Whatever."

They didn't talk too much on the way to town nor in the diner. Sam noticed how Dean didn't even flirt with the waitress. That was clear indication that something was bothering his brother. A couple of minutes later he couldn't take the silence anymore so he told Dean he was going to the library. There wasn't anything to do research on but both of them could use the space before getting into something they would regret later. Sam was waiting for a simple answer but he only got a nod. When he left he took the salt shaker with him. You would think that he would steal something more valuable. Of course he only wanted the salt for protection. Old libraries could have spirits, he was just being cautious. Besides it was easier to carry a salt shaker than a shotgun full of rock salt.

Once Sammy was gone Dean decided to read the Montana Standard, their local newspaper. He wasn't in the mood to get back to the motel after spending most of the night and morning staring at those walls. He wished he could find something supernatural going on but there was nothing striking him as odd, except from Bryan Finney, a guy who was young and healthy but still managed to just drop dead. Not much to go on so he dismissed it and went on to the sports page. Hopefully it wouldn't be some old lady trying to play God and giving orders to a reaper. Dean was so caught up in it that he didn't noticed the mug of coffee the waitress presented him with until she cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry I didn't order this"

"I thought you could use some and don't worry it's on the house"

Dean arched a brow. So maybe he hadn't thought of her as fun, but maybe he should.

"So, I haven't seen you around here before."

"Me and my brother are just passing through," Dean answered, after an awkward silence.

"Oh that's nice. Well I have to go back to work. Nice meeting you." She slid out of the booth and was about to leave when the voice stopped her.

"Dean."

"Margie." And with a bright smile, she left.

Dean had to give it to her, she was beautiful. As she walked away he couldn't help but stare at her. That woman had it all: porcelain white skin, stunning emeralds eyes, peach lips and long dirty blonde hair, not to mention she had a nice figure. She was the perfect description of fun in his book. Then again his head wasn't in that game just yet. He took the paper with him and left a couple of bucks in the table before leaving. Margie went to the table to pick up the money when she noticed he paid for the coffee. She saw the place wasn't crowed and she headed to the door after Dean.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Here, I told you it was on the house." She handed him the money.

"Nah, don't worry about it."

"Listen I don't usually do this but here." She handed him a napkin. "I'm off tonight. Nice car by the way." And with that she left.

Sam was just getting out of the library and saw what he thought was a girl giving his brother her number as he approached him. He never understood the luck he had with girls. He didn't even have to flirt with this one to get her number.

"What was that?"

"New friend" Dean gave his brother his infamous smirk.

They drove to the motel and Dean thought of mentioning the guy he read about in the paper to see what his brother thought about it. As soon as they got in the room Dean threw himself in the bed and was lost in thoughts. He knew the whole tension between him and Sam was because of him. He was doing a poor job of hiding the truth from Sam but he was also having a hard time in denial land. If he was going to tell Sammy about what happened in the last hunt, he first needed to come to terms with it.

"Dean?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you if you found anything worth hunting."

"I don't know maybe it's weak but weird nonetheless."

"What is it?"

"A healthy young guy dropped dead. His name was Bryan Finney."

"That's it?"

"Told you it was weak."

"Well, I guess I could look into…actually now that you mention it there were a couple of women in the library talking about a guy that had died a year ago and there was no medical explanation for it. They said he was madly in love with a girl from the town."

"You're eavesdropping old ladies' gossip now?"

"They weren't old." That was his best defense and his brother couldn't help but to laugh.

"Oh I see, well it couldn't have been the same guy."

"Why not?" Dean stretched his arm to grab the newspaper he had placed in the night table and threw it at Sam.

"Because the guy I'm talking about died a month ago."

Sam just looked at his brother lazily without reading the paper.

"Why was it in today's paper though?"

"It says the autopsy revealed the cause of death was asphyxia but there was no medical explanation to back it up."

"That is weird. Maybe we should talk tomorrow to the family and see what we can find out, also check records of old papers in the library to get the first guy's information and to see if there were others. I'll check the internet for info later."

Dean didn't say a thing. When Sam looked at him he noticed Dean was asleep. _Well at least he's getting some sleep now,_ Sam thought.

A couple hours later when Dean woke up he found food on the table and Sam was nowhere around. Dean smiled when he saw the salt shaker make an appearance at the table, then he thought Sam was probably taking a walk; he liked doing that when he needed to clear his head. Dean made a mental note to try it one of these days, he could actually use a clean up. On second thought that's just too girly for him. He got up from the bed and headed for the bathroom he needed a shower. He gathered his stuff and before jumping in the shower he found the napkin with Margie's number. He gave her a call and decided to meet her later. Hunting was usually his distraction but that was for tomorrow he was available at the moment. By the time Sam made it back he was ready and almost on his way out.

"Dean are we gonna talk about this?"

"Talk about what?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you?"

"Don't start with that crap Sammy, I'm fine."

"Something's up with you. I can sense it"

"That's because you're a freak."

"Takes one to know one." Sam meant it as a joke but he hit a nerve without knowing.

"Yeah well that might be the problem," Dean said in a serious tone, grabbing his keys. "I'm going out with Margie. Don't wait up for me." And with that he left a very stunned Sam thinking, _what exactly did he mean by that?_

Dean drove to town and stopped at the bar he was meeting Margie at.

"Hey there."

"Two beers please," he said to the bartender. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself."

"We need to come up with better material."

"I'm sorry I haven't dated in a while."

"Me neither." _Here come the lies._

"Really? You look like you do ok in that department."

"Yeah, don't get me wrong, it's just since I'm road tripping with my brother I don't want him to feel bad if I ditch him for a girl." _Well at least that's true_.

"You're an awesome brother. How's the road tripping working for ya?"

"Great"

"That bad, huh?"

"It's not bad it's just… So, tell me about yourself, why haven't you been dating?" _Great Dean! Subtle change of topic_.

"Maybe later, how about we play some pool."

"Sure. I'll take it easy on ya."

"Oh please do!" Margie said in a mocking tone and then broke in laughing.

After a couple of games and quite a few beers they left the bar. Margie told him she didn't want to go home so fast so they ended up going to the park at night. They sat on the swings and Margie almost fell off of hers while watching Dean struggle to sit on his. It was quite amusing but then he decided to push her instead. Dean didn't understand why two grown ups would want to sit on swings in the middle of the night but it was better than going to the motel and finding Sam pretending to be asleep. Instead there he was in a lonely park with a drunken Margie. That definitely sounded better. She was certainly enjoying herself and once she announced it, he knew he was about to seal the deal.

"Tonight has been great."

And there was his opening. He stopped pushing her and held the swing still. He was going for a kiss; if he made it romantic enough he could get lucky.

Margie knew what was happening and for once she didn't stop it because she wanted the warmth of a man. "Wanna go to my house?"

Dean smiled at her and the rest is history. Around 5 in the morning he was getting dressed and ready to leave when she woke up.

"Morning."

"Oh hey you're awake."

"Sorry to ruin your escape." Before Dean could come up with an excuse she continued. "Look I don't normally do this but it felt good, umm, how can I put it, liberating." _Please just kill me now_ Dean thought. "Before you go just hear me out ok. And don't worry it's not like I fell in love with you or anything. We're on the same page here."

"Shoot" – _Of all the women I had to pick the one that wants to have a touchy feeling moment right when I want to sneak out. What's with my luck lately? After this I'm so out of here._

"Look I was engaged and my fiancé, Billy, he died. After that I felt like I owed it to him not to be happy with another man. That's why I haven't been really dating sure. There have been guys around but it didn't felt right. Ok what I want to say is thank you for liberating me from that and showing me a good time."

"Well sweetheart don't thank me, you're young and beautiful and well I'm glad you had a good time."

"I hope I didn't freak you out."

"Nah look I need to go but I'll see you around." _Maybe, I haven't decided yet._

"Ok"

Dean got back to the motel thinking he didn't want to see that girl again. He took a shower and went straight to bed. That was definitely the weirdest date he ever had. By the time he woke up, Sam was sitting on his bed with the computer.

"Hey, sunshine."

"Did you found anything on those guys?" _There he goes straight to business,_ Sam thought before answering him.

"Well the guy I heard about was Jim Saunders. Apparently he used to come down here to take care of a house a relative left him in his will. While doing that he met a girl and got interested in her so much he actually moved to the house. I asked Gladys and she said—"

"Gladys? Now you're on first name basis with the old lady."

"Shut up, jerk, I'm trying to fill you in what I found."

"Whatever you say bitch."

"The librarian said that the girl was a shy one and that she wasn't interested in him. She had only been living here in town for six months before Jim met her. He would bring her flowers and stuff but she always said no. Then I checked in the old newspapers and he died of Traumatic Asphyxiation but the reports said it was inconclusive."

"How come?"

"Well, that happens when something heavy crushes your chest obstructing all your airways but the body was found in a clear space and nothing was on top of it. They also said the body hadn't been moved."

"So both basically died of asphyxia. This girl could've still killed him, right?"

"I don't know but how would you explain the results of the autopsy or the other guy that died."

"Well let's start by checking if there's a connection between the two guys and I'll bet your ass there is one."

"Funny, Dean. Look, I have the address of Finney's Aunt. Maybe we can ask her a couple of questions."

"Let's go."

The drive to the last residence of Bryan Finney was uneventful. The only sound coming from the car was the radio playing Triumph's "Lay it on the Line," which Sam of course turned off before they got to woman's house. Dean took two fake ID's and handed one to Sam. Then they headed to the front door and knock.

"Good evening ma'am. My name is Lars Ulrich and this is James Hetfield, we're private investigators and we were wondering if we could ask you a couple of questions," Sam said as both of them flashed their ID's.

"About what?"

"About your nephew Bryan Finney"

"Why would two private investigators want to know about my dead nephew?"

"Because the family that hired us went through the same as you and they want answers." Dean looked at his brother incredulous. Sam just pulled the guilt card.

"Look our investigation led us to this town and to your nephew."

"Come on in." She led them to her living room and once they were seated she opened up to them.

"He was a sweet boy. He decided only three months ago that he was going to get his Masters degree and then he met that girl and all went to hell."

Dean and Sam shared looks before asking in unison, "What girl?"

"I think her name was Margaret, I'm not sure. He fell in love with her and I thought she liked him but she said it wasn't right for them to be together."

"Did she say why?"

"She only said something about not deserving to be happy. What a silly girl she was."

"What happened after that?"

"Nothing. He tried to impress her but she wasn't that easy. He kept mentioning that he felt a strange presence. He was scared and the police thought that he was crazy but I think someone was following him. I think whoever it was must have killed him."

"What was this presence and weird stuff that he talked about?"

"I don't know, he just told me he felt like someone was stalking him. It all began after he started going out with that girl."

"Why did the police think he was crazy?"

"Because he filed a complaint after a man assaulted him but there was nobody in town that could fit the description."

"Thanks for your time ma'am," Dean said.

"Do you know where we could find this Margaret girl?" Sam asked before leaving.

"All I know is that she works in town, I'm sorry."

"That's alright."

Once in the car Sam and Dean started talking about possibilities as they drove back to the motel.

"So we have a connection: this Margaret girl," Dean said, watching carefully as Sam steered their way through traffic. "Do you think maybe this isn't our kind of thing; that she just killed them to get rid of them?"

"I don't think so; I mean how would you explain the way they died? We should find that girl. Oh, hey talking about girls, how did it go with your new friend?"

"Since when are you interested in my social life?"

"Since you barely talk to me."

"Look I'm sorry about the way I've been acting lately but maybe if you stopped pushing things they wouldn't be so tense."

"So now it's my fault!"

"Don't even go there, Sam."

"Why won't you tell me what happened in that stupid hunt?!"

"Because I don't even understand it, ok? Look let's just get through with this hunt and then we'll have a heart to heart if you want." Dean looked away from his brother, clearly signaling the end of the conversation. Sam said nothing.

Sam wanted to eat something but Dean refused to go back to the diner so he agreed to let Sam drop him at the motel and then he would pick up some food. It hadn't been a full five minutes after Sam left when Dean got the strange feeling that someone was in the room with him and it wasn't his brother. He cautiously stopped and turned around only to find himself face to face with a spirit. He had no time to react; the spirit launched its hands at Dean's chest making him fall to the floor. Dean was in an incredible amount of pain but he tried to suppress it; that's what John Winchester always told his boys, suck it up for now and deal with it later.

Dean tried but the pain in his chest was so intense it was making his thoughts fuzzy. He noticed how the spirit's hands were dug inside his chest and it was slowly taking his breath away. The spirit was somehow taking away all of the air in Dean's lungs. His face was facing the table were Sam and him usually ate and there Dean saw the crystal salt shaker his brother had placed. The thing just blew to pieces with one look scattering the salt in the table.

Dean's eyes were growing heavier as the oxygen was being kept away from him. Then with the last of his strength he tried to fight the spirit off but instead he heard the satisfaction coming from it in the form of laughter.

"I promise to cherish her in life and death."

And then the salt came flying from the table into the spirit's form making him disappear. Dean gasped and began coughing desperately as he found out how to breathe again, but soon after he managed a couple of hard breaths he fell into the blissful darkness.

Sam was trying to balance the bags of food, the sodas and the key to open the room. When he finally did, he pushed the door with his back and let it close on its own. Then he saw Dean lying in the floor, he quickly placed the food on the table and knelt in front of his brother. He shook him and yelled his name until he woke up.

"Dean come wake up."

"What the hell happened?"

"You tell me! I just came back and found you passed out in the floor."

"Oh no! Son of a Bitch!"

"What is it Dean?"

"It isn't the girl, Sam."

"Then who is it?"

"I don't know. It was the spirit of some guy." By now Dean noticed that Sam was still a little to close to him for his liking. "Dude, personal space," he said, getting up and moving to the closest bed which was Sam's.

"What'd you mean it was a guy?"

"Because he attacked me Sam! He was pretty damn close to my face I think I would've noticed if it was a chick."

"It wasn't one of the guys that died, Jim or Bryan?"

"Nope, I haven't seen the bastard."

"Well, that's just weird. Why did it attack you?"

"Maybe he thought I was better looking," Dean said flashing Sam a big winning smile. Sam had seen that smile way too many times to be impressed by it; instead he was staring at his brothe'rs chest. There were two big bruises already forming behind the torn up shirt.

"Didn't I teach you that it's impolite to stare at people?"

"How did you get that?" Sam said poking Dean's chest.

"Hey!" Dean said brushing his brother's hands away. "It must have been when he was emptying my lungs."

"Since when do spirits do that?"

"I don't know, Sam, I didn't have the time or the air to ask him."

"Ok so why did he leave you?"

"I threw salt at him obviously."

"But he didn't come back?"

"No."

"Which means that probably he will."

"You don't know that," Dean said defiantly. He noticed as Sam raised his eyebrows skeptically. "Ok maybe he will."

"Did he say anything to you?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it." Dean got up from the bed and moved towards the table, Sam following him waiting for an answer. "He said something about promising to cherish her in life and death."

"Who's 'her'?"

"I don't know," Dean quickly replied, grabbing his food and eating it before bothering to sit anywhere.

"By the way," Sam said, not wanting to truly interrupt Dean from his food. "Margie says hi and that hopefully she'll see run into you soon." Sam could swear he saw Dean shiver. He wasn't sure if it was from the attack or just mentioning the girl's name.

"If there is a God I hope I don't."

Sam made sure that the windows and the door were salted before sitting down and eating his dinner. Boy, Dean ate like a kid that had been starving for days. Sam hated to see his brother's eating habits; sometimes they were down right scary. Then he cleaned up the salt on the floor from the broken bottle in the table. He wondered why Dean broke the bottle instead of just opening the cap. He pushed the thought aside and went to his dinner.

While Sam was still finishing off his food, Dean went to the bathroom and checked his chest. It still hurt a bit to breath but it was manageable. It had happened again. This time he broke the little crystal bottle and sent the salt flying. It was scaring him that he had somehow acquired the ability of telekinesis. Sure, it was the second time it had saved his life but it was out of sheer luck. He couldn't control it. He didn't want to control it. All he wanted was for it to be out of his life before he turned into another version of Max Miller. He didn't want to hurt anybody. He didn't want to hurt Sam.

Dean splashed some water on his face and went outside looking into his duffle bag. He got what he was looking for, a clean shirt. He changed into it and once again moved to the bed, laying down comfortably and flipping the channels of the TV just wanting to ease his mind. Then Sam opened his mouth.

"Hey Dean?"

Dean didn't answer hoping his brother would just complete the sentence without expecting him to say anything.

"Why did you shiver when I gave you Margie's message."

Dean shivered again. "Because she's buckets of crazy."

"Perfect for you then, Champ."

"What did you just called me?" Dean asked incredulous. "Look you have no idea what I went through with that girl. Everything was perfect until she woke up when I was leaving and she laid on me this sad love story…"

All of the sudden his head was filled with voices. _Wait, "I promise to cherish her in life and death" "I was engaged and my fiancé died" "He kept mentioning that he felt a strange presence" "They said he was madly in love with a girl from the town" "She said it wasn't right for them to be together" "I felt I owe to him not to be happy with another man" "He met that girl and all went to hell" "He filed a complaint after a man assaulted him but there was nobody in town that could fit the description" "Why did it attack you?" "I promise to cherish her in life and death" "She works in town" "Margaret" Now it all made sense_… - "Margie"- it came out as a soft whisper.

"Dean!" Sam shouted, but his brother was lost in his thoughts and wasn't responding. "Dean!"

"Margie," he said louder this time.

"What about Margie?"

"It makes perfect sense!"

"What does? Dean, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Margie is Margaret!" he said as he got up from the bed and looked for his leather jacket.

"Whoa! Where are you going?"

"Look, Margie is Margaret. That sad love story I just told you about? Her boyfriend died before they could get married. He promised to cherish her in life and death because he promised to marry her. Those guys were trying to woo her but she thought she owed it to him not to be happy."

"They died because they were interested in her and her fiancé wouldn't allow another man to be with her that wasn't him… He's haunting her."

"This is like that Sweet William Ghost ballad."

"How do you know that?"

"You weren't paying attention! Because she told me her love life while I was trying to make an escape."

"Not that! The ballad thing."

"Oh, not important right now. Look we need to find her if we want to kill her dead boyfriend." Dean got ready in a hurry but Sam wasn't moving.

"So he steals these men's breaths so they don't take hers away. But he didn't attack them after weeks of trying to impress her, so why all of the sudden does he wants to kill you?"

"Because they were only buying chocolates and flowers which obviously didn't work and I… well… I slept with her genius."

"Maybe you should stay here while I go talk to her."

"What? No way."

Sam rolled his eyes because once again his brother sounded like a little kid complaining. "Dean, you stay here protected by the salt while I go talk to her."

"I'm not staying here grounded by my little brother."

"Ok, let's think this through before we do anything."

"There's nothing to think about. Here's what we're gonna do: I'll call her and tell her I'm taking you to the bar if she wants to meet up there. We question her about her dead boyfriend. We leave and dig up the body and do a simple salt and burn. How does that sound?"

"Too easy," Sam simply replied.

"Let's just do this. We have the shotguns full of rock salt. You're there to watch my ass and well I might have a trick or two up in my sleeve." He smirked at his brother hoping Sam would buy the sales pitch that he just gave him, which of course he did.

"Fine." Sam grabbed his jacket and they walked out of the room but not before Sam tried to lighten the mood. "You realize your fun got us into this mess, right?" Sam said laughing.

"We were gonna kill it anyways."

"But it wants to kill you first."

"They always want to kill me."

"I wonder why."

"Sam." Dean just stares at him, his way of warning him to stop right there. Then when Sam was out of his line vision he grinned. They drove to the bar but half way there Sam came to the realization that maybe she wasn't there.

"I'm just saying, Dean, she's a shy girl with a lot of issues."

"Believe me I know she has issues but shy? I don't know about that one."

"Look I bet the only reason she actually slept with you was because she was drunk. I don't think that in her right mind she'll be going to a bar alone."

"You're killing me, Sammy."

"Look all I'm saying is that unless she knows you're going to be there she's not going to be in that bar."

"See that sounds better."

"Yeah, for your ego. If we don't find the spirit he's going to kill you."

"Fine! I'll give her a call," Dean said taking out his cell.

"You know you shouldn't drive and talk on your cell."

Dean made a shush sound and the person in the other line answered.

"Hey Margie, it's me, Dean. Listen babe I need to see you. Are you in your house? Mind if I stop by for a second? Don't worry I have my kid brother with me. I just need to talk to ya for a minute. Ok see you then," he said to the phone and as soon as he shut it he looked at Sam. "She's in her house."

Fifteen minutes later they pulled up in front of her house. She was expecting them so as soon as she heard the car she opened the door to welcome them.

"Margie, this is my brother Sam."

"Hi, nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"Well, come on in."

The boys found themselves sitting in a living room ready to ask questions for the second time that day.

"Look Margie I need some information that only you can give me and I need you to be honest with me."

"You're scaring me, Dean."

"How did your fiancé die?"

She was surprised to find the question came from Sam's direction.

"You told him?! Why do you need to know about William?"

"William and Margaret! It does fit the ballad thing."

"I want you guys out of my house!!!"

"Margie we need to know what happened to him. How did he die?"

"Look, I know this is painful for you but unless you start talking I'm gonna die like Jim and Bryan did," Dean said pissed.

"How do you know about them? What'd you mean you're going to die like them?" Margie was crying hard by now.

"Listen," Sam tried to calm her in order to get the information they needed. "We believe his spirit is hunting you and killing men that get close to you."

"You're crazy."

"Maybe, but still it doesn't change the fact that both Jim and Bryan died the same way after they got close to you."

"Billy was murdered two days before our wedding ceremony. We had already signed the papers and he had promised to be there for me always. Then some thug robbed him, took his car and all of his stuff but it wasn't enough. He shot him in cold blood and left him to die in the street. We never got to have our wedding ceremony." Tears were falling freely from her eyes and Dean was getting really uncomfortable by the situation.

"I'm so sorry," Sam said sincerely while Dean just wanted to run away.

"I think that's why I couldn't move on. At first I thought it was my imagination but I felt like he was around me."

"Well technically he is. If you truly want to move on and free yourself from his memory, this is your chance."

"I don't want him to keep killing but how are you going to stop him?"

"It's not pretty. We need to salt and burn his bones."

"I understand but I'm coming with you guys."

"What?! No."

"Look only I know where the grave is and I can take you there." She moved closer to Dean. "You only freed a part of me now I need to free myself."

"You got to be kidding me."

"I'm not asking… So are we going or what?" She said heading for the door and grabbing her keys. Sam followed her but turned to his brother.

"Maybe you should marry this one Dean," he whispered loud enough for his brother to hear him.

"Shut up Sammy." Dean shoved him out of his way. They waited for Margie to close the door of the house and walked to the car.

"He's buried in Holy Cross Cemetery just outside of town connecting with Silver Bow."

The drive to the cemetery was silent and uncomfortable. Once they got there Dean went to open the trunk and took two shovels. They needed to start digging as soon as they could. It was only a matter of time before the spirit of William showed up. Dean warned her to stay in the car he wasn't gonna play babysitter with her but not before she gave them exact directions to William's grave. They walked for a little bit and found it exactly where she said it would be. The headstone read "William Lee Walsh Beloved Son 1970 – 2005." They started digging and when they were close enough Dean suddenly stopped.

"Do you feel that?" Dean asked slightly in edge.

"Temperature drop, he's here."

"Dig faster!" Dean climbed up from the hole and ran to where they had left their duffle bag. He quickly looked inside for the flammable liquid, the salt and checked to make sure the lighter was still in his pocket. He was about to go back to Sam when William appeared in front of him.

"And where do you think you're going?" he said tilting his head to the side and shimmering for a second. Then he threw Dean a couple of feet away. He unintentionally screamed as he landed on someone else's headstone and hit his head pretty hard.

"Dean!" Sam screamed when he heard his brother shout.

"You son of a Bitch!" Dean yelled as his hand reached the back of his head and noticed it was blood stained. "Keep digging Sammy! I'm fine!"

"I promised I'd cherish her in life and death." William threw Dean against a nearby tree and as he flew sideways his ribs connected with it first. He felt the pain instantly but he refused to scream. William was taking his fury out against Dean.

"You said that already," Dean hissed.

"You used her and you're going to pay for it." William placed his hands on Dean's chest once more and Dean felt the burning sensation followed by the shortness of breath immediately. He was so close to passing out he almost welcomed it. Then William saw Sam climbing out of his grave and pouring the salt and the liquid on his bones. He drew one of his hands away from Dean's chest and a force pushed Sam away from the grave and near the one of someone named Missy Doyle. Sam shook his head to bring things into focus. He heard his brother calling him in a low voice. William didn't want to hurt Sam just keep him away from his bones. His wrath was focused on Dean. Sam kept on checking his pockets to find the lighter but he didn't have it. He grabbed the shotgun and shot William full of rock salt making him vanish. Sam ran to help his brother.

"Dean, come on man open your eyes."

"Sammy?"

"Where's the lighter Dean? We don't have much time."

Margie heard the first scream and the commotion after it. She wasn't sure if she should leave the car and help the brothers or just stay. One thing was certain: she was terrified. She then made up her mind that it was either helping them or carry their deaths in her conscience just like with Jim Saunders and Bryan Finney. The door squeaked open and she slowly walked in the dark of the night towards her former fiancé's grave. She was close enough to see William's transparent form appearing in front of the fallen brothers and shoving Sam away from Dean.

"William!" she called to him and he responded.

"My dear."

Sam tried to crawl to his brother's side once more but stopped dead on his tracks when he saw Dean take the lighter out of his pocket and just stare at it while it was on his palm. He knew Margie was talking to William and that would give them enough time to burn the bones. Sam snapped out of it and pulled himself up to run to Dean and take the lighter but then the lighter flew from his hand to the grave and bones began burning. Sam was now staring at his brother trying to make sense out of what happened. Sadly there wasn't enough time because they didn't kill William again…so to speak. The bones were burning but he was still there and even more pissed at Dean for burning them.

"Don't you know how to die?!" he screamed at Dean.

"Look who's talking," was Dean's weak response.

"Nice trick there pretty boy but not enough to get rid of me. And that brother of yours can't help you now." William threw Sam close to another headstone this time his arm breaking the fall. Margie was only a couple of steps away from him and went to his side.

"Margie, do you still have the ring he gave you?"

"Yeah," she said slightly confused.

"Do you have it with you now?"

"Why?"

"I can't explain but you need to destroy it now! Look this is your real chance of freeing yourself and saving my brother."

Margie looked into Sam's eyes and saw the hurt behind them: not physical pain but the one of losing a loved one. She then looked to where Dean lay, almost lifeless, under William's hands. She moved as fast as she could to the burning grave, took her golden chain off and let the ring slide until it rested in her palm then threw it in the fire. "I'm freeing us both. May you finally rest in peace."

Dean couldn't feel pain anymore, his body went numb and he just let himself go. Sam and Margie watched with dread as William's spirit resembled a fuse that was being lighted and it quickly turned into ashes. They both ran in Dean's direction. Sam instantly reached to check his brother for injuries.

"Damn it, he's not breathing! Margie, do you how to perform CPR?"

"Yeah"

"Ok, I'm gonna do the compressions."

"Ok."

Sam began pushing fifteen times while Margie gave Dean mouth to mouth. Once nothing happened, twice nothing happened, third time nothing.

"Come on Dean, don't do this to me!"

Fourth time nothing, fifth time nothing, sixth time nothing.

"Breath Dean!"

Lucky seven it was. Dean began gasping for air immediately.

"Slow breaths. Come on, you're ok now!"

"Sammy?"

"Yeah, I'm here. What took you so long jerk?"

"Let's… get the hell… out of here…bitch!"

"We should take him to the hospital." Margie said softly, almost scared.

"Nonsense, I'm fine."

"I'll patch him up later."

Sam grabbed his brother's arm and placed it around his neck. He carefully lifted him up but Dean had a thing about pride and no matter how hurt he was he didn't want to put all his weight on Sam. No, he was convinced he was walking out of there by himself that Sam was only there for support. It's funny how the mind works. Sam let Dean find a comfortable position in the passenger seat and told Margie to sit behind the driver's seat. He got the keys from Dean's pocket and drove to Margie's house. After she said her thanks and apologies to them he made his last stop in their motel room. Dean had composed himself a little and managed to walk to the bathroom and shower without a problem. When he got out Sam was waiting for him with the first aid kit. While wrapping Dean's ribs he decided it was the best time to talk to him about what happened in the cemetery.

"You ok?"

"Yeah Sammy, nothing a good sleep and a beer can't cure." He grinned at his brother. His mask was well placed.

"What happened back there?"

"Yeah, I mean we burned his bones and nothing happened what the hell was that?"

"He was attached to the engagement ring he gave her and that's not what I mean."

"Then what?"

"The lighter."

"Oh that."

"How did you do that?"

"I don't know…"

"Dean, I saw you staring at it and then the thing flew straight into the grave."

"Ok so maybe it has happened before…"

"Like in the Ghoul hunt before?"

"Yeah"

"Is that why you've been shutting me out lately?"

"Look Sammy…" But before he could come up with a lame excuse Sam placed the last tape on his ribs tighter on purpose causing Dean to hiss in pain.

"Hey! What was that for?!"

"For lying to me!"

"See this is exactly why I didn't tell you about it! Look, I hid it because I was having issues with it. I mean you saw what happened to that Max kid! Then there was the question of why the hell would I be able to do that…and man there was just too many unanswered questions in my head."

"I bet that was a first."

"Dude lay off! I'm trying to be honest here."

"Dean you should've told me. I mean, we'll figure things out. We'll find the answers together."

"Are we done with this chick-flick moment because I just want to go to sleep."

Sam didn't answer him right away he got up and picked up a spoon. "Bend this."

"That's not funny Sam."

"It was to you when you thought I could do it." His smirk faded when he came to a realization. "You don't think you were the one who moved that thing in the Miller house, do you?"

Dean just stood in silence.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

"Maybe."

"Dean, it's ok. I mean you can't help it just like I can't help my visions."

"I know dude, it doesn't mean it freaks me out any less. I'm gonna sleep now, ok?"

"Fine."

"Fine." Dean settled in his bed the best he could. He was really tired and way too sore. There was just one thing he needed to do before departing to dreamland. "Hey Sammy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks"

"No problem, dude."

Sam's lips curl into a true smile. As long as they had each other they would be fine.

_Finis_


End file.
